Disclaimer: characters by Takao Aoki, HUDSON SOFT/TAKARA/HASBRO, BEYBLADE PROJECT, TV TOKYO, Nelvana.
AN: This is a story I started a while back… I do write occasionally, I just don't go about finishing what I start (yes, even I know that's a shame). Kind of like OOMC… for which the eighth chapter is 95% complete. This story also has a second part, which should be done soon…? Both are set in about the same universe - maybe this is the back story of how Kai met Miguel :)
There is a bit of an illustration that inspired the beginning of this story. I will put it up on deviantArt eventually… hopefully sooner than later. Title is kinda random. This is at least twice as long as my usual chapters. Some inspiration may have come from Elemental Gypsy's story "Feels Like Falling in Love."
-Pay the Price-
by destiny kitty
Kai regained consciousness slowly, dreamlike. Images, memories of a handsome blonde clung to the edges of his mind as he tried to curl into a more comfortable position and, when that failed, dragged open his reluctant eyelids.
His surroundings were dark and unfamiliar. He blinked several times, clearing his head with a little shake that he immediately regretted. By the ferocity of the pain in the back of his head and neck he decided that he must have taken a serious blow to the head. Such an occurrence would explain why he did not remember arriving in this unlit, unknown place. Now why couldn't he move?
He gave several exploratory tugs to the unseen but obviously present bonds preventing him from moving his arms and legs without any change in their pressure or position. Huffing a sigh, he added this annoyance of untying himself to the growing list of things to do: find out where he was and possibly who had brought him here, get out, get away.
He was not terribly concerned; this was not the first time he had awoken completely immobilized in an unknown place with no memory of having arrived there. Chances were that his mates were already looking for him, assuming they had not also been captured…. He could not place their presence in his most recent memories, so he assumed he had been alone when he had been caught. That made sense. It was always easier to kidnap one Blitzkreg Boy on his own that the whole psychotic group. Tala and Bryan would be on their way, most likely with Ian and Spencer in tow, once they figured out that he was missing. If everything went well, he could meet them on their way to rescue him. That was always satisfying. It was always amusing to beat Tala at his own game—
His wandering thoughts halted abruptly as one of his hands, which he had been twisting and wriggling in an attempt to loosen the ropes holding them in place, brushed against something warm and soft. Kai immediately froze, angrily quelling the instinctive upshot in his breathing rhythm to listen to the room around him.
Soft breaths taken at slightly uneven intervals sounded from behind Kai's head. He also noticed that his back was much warmer than his front and sides, and was pressed against something warm and unevenly soft and bumpy. There was another person behind him, still alive by the sound and feel of it, and they were tied together back-to-back and ankle-to-ankle.
Kai's mind raced. Was it one of his mates, or one of his captors? If it was a captor, why was the other man also lying on the cold hard ground, tied up? It most likely was not one of the other Blitzkreg Boys; he had already determined that they had not been with him when he was captured. They might have been caught at a different time, but would they have been tied together like this? That option seemed unlikely; therefore, the other person was most likely with Kai when he had been attacked. With a sinking heart Kai turned his aching head to catch a glimpse of his fellow captive, a desperate cry of denial at what he was about to see welling up in his mind.
No.
It was still dark, but Kai's eyes had adjusted and there was enough light filtering into the room to illuminate an outline of shoulders wider than Kai's own and exuberant blond hair now somewhat tangled and dirty. The last time Kai had seen that beautiful hair had been as he stared hungrily through the window of its owner's room, drinking in the sight of a muscular, tanned youth of about nineteen, with gorgeous blue eyes and a breathtaking smile. He was Kai's secret crush, a boy known to him only as apartment 306, building five, Chelsea Moore Street.
Kai gritted his teeth and barely resisted the urge to bang his already smarting head against the concrete floor as the realization washed over him that he had accidentally dragged this perfect, innocent angel into his sordid life. This was exactly why he had never spoken to the boy, never given any indication that he was interested or even alerted the blonde to his existence as he frequently lurked around the boy's neighborhood, watching without being able to make contact with the one person he wanted so desperately to know and love.
Now he had unwittingly put his crush in exactly the kind of danger from which he had hoped to spare the boy by keeping his distance. Here they were, tied up, trapped by an unknown enemy in some cavern that could be anywhere on the planet for all he knew. The only certainty was that they were on solid ground and not moving, but Kai had no way of judging how long he had been unconscious, so it was impossible to tell whether they had been taken to another city or into the unpopulated areas beyond, or even to another country.
Shut up, you're being ridiculous, Kai admonished himself sternly. Taking a deep breath, he thought, Stick to what you know; the rest will follow. The first priority is to get us out of here.
He began wriggling his hands again, trying to test whether there was any give to the ropes without waking his partner, but stopped as the blond boy gave a short moan and shifted slightly. Kai bit his lip to keep from hyperventilating at the unspeakable helplessness in that small sound and turned his attention to scouring the room for anything useful: an exit, pieces of sharp-edged metal or rough wood, rope-rippers, weapons, places to hide, anything. He had to escape. He had to protect his angel. Above all, he had to get that boy home safely.
Before he could settle on anything with the potential to assist their escape the young man behind him gave another groan and tried to roll over. Kai gasped at the unexpected move as he was lifted partially into the air by his arms. His fellow prisoner caught his breath quickly as if in pain and stopped pulling, and Kai crashed flat to the hard floor, listening dazedly to the fear in his crush's melodic voice as the boy stammered weakly, "W-what's going on? Ugh my head…."
"It's going to be ok," Kai reassured quietly, the steadiness of his own voice surprising him. Still, speaking to his crush for the first time was nice, even if the nervous butterflies in his stomach originated as much from fear for his crush's wellbeing as excitement about being in his presence. "I think we were drugged. The effects should wear off soon."
"We were drugged and that is ok!" the blonde yelped. "Who are you? Where—"
"Please be quiet," Kai pleaded, wishing he could look the boy in the face. "I don't want them to know we're awake."
"Who are they?" queried the next question, slightly quieter.
"I…" Kai bit his lip. "I don't know."
Silence reigned for a few moments. By the continued heaving of the blonde's ribs, Kai could feel that he was still upset. Kai couldn't blame him. If this had been his first time being taken prisoner, he assumed that the experience would be much more frightening.
"Look," Kai started again, hoping his whispered words would be helpful, "if they haven't killed us already, then they probably mean to keep us alive. We just have to work on getting loose, and then getting out of here."
"You sound like you've done this before," the older teen mused.
"Yeah, a few times," Kai admitted quietly. Then, to the sudden thought that he might not have been the intended target of this attack but merely in the wrong place at the wrong time, he asked, "You don't have any mob ties, do you?"
"No," his fellow prisoner answered quickly. Too quickly? Kai wondered. But the blonde seemed to be genuinely distressed, and as he began twisting around to observe their barely-lit surroundings, Kai abandoned the theory.
"If we both move together, we can probably sit up," Kai suggested. "Then at least… it would be more comfortable."
"Yeah, ok."
Kai nodded, though it occurred to him that the other could not see him, and then started directing his partner's movements in sync with his own. It took only a few moments to work themselves onto their knees, a slightly more comfortable position than lying on the cold floor. Kai tried to relax his cramped muscles but his movement was still severely constricted by the tightness of the ropes securing the two boys together.
"Well, this is great."
Somewhat surprise to hear this sarcastic comment echo a similar sentiment that had been running through his own mind, Kai tried to catch a glimpse of the other boy's face but was blocked by the blond spikes now creating a wall between them. He settled against his partner's back with a sigh, glancing around the room for inspiration.
"What do we do now?" his fellow prisoner asked forlornly. Kai winced at the vulnerable tone in the boy's sweet voice, berating himself viciously for dragging his angel into such a situation as this. He wanted so badly to protect the boy from the harm and corruption, the fear and pain of loss that accompanied this kind of life, the one he himself led.
Too late now, Kai; there's no sense crying over spilled vodka. Take charge. Move!
Kai began scanning the room again, instructing his partner to do the same. "We have to get these ropes off. Do you see anything we could use, something sharp?"
"There's a knife blade or something by the door, over there."
Kai craned his neck to see over the other boy's shoulder, but was unable to catch sight of the aforementioned knife. He at least could see the door, so he could judge how far they would have to go. It would be somewhat difficult with their backs and ankles tied together, but surely they could manage somehow. "Ok, perfect. Get ready to move."
"But, I—"
"Come on, the faster we get loose the better. Our captors could return at any moment."
"Yeah, but…"
Kai noticed a wobble in the other boy's voice and stopped pushing him both verbally and physically. After a moment of silence he asked, "What's wrong?"
"I-I…" Clearing his throat to banish the betraying frightened tremble in his voice, Kai's crush admitted, "I'm chained to the floor."
Shock, denial, and anguish swamped through Kai's mind. Clamping his eyes closed and taking a slow calming breathe, Kai asked, "Where is it… attached?"
"My wrists."
"Cuffs or just chains?"
There was a small outburst of breath like a choked, miserable laugh and the other boy replied, "Just a chain."
"Can you see the lock?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, we'll just have to pick the lock." Just one more thing to do. Kai looked to the door again, trying to gauge whether they would be able to reach the knife after all. Their arms were tied down to their sides so really he only had the length of their legs to work with, and then they would not be able to grab the knife but would have to grate the ropes around their ankles against it to cut themselves loose. That left the ropes around their upper bodies to be loosed and then the chain to unlock. What a headache… and to think people like that stupid Houdini guy do this for fun.
Hnn….
"Can you see any knots that you might be able to reach? We are going to have to get these ropes off by ourselves."
Kai felt the other boy move and thought he must have nodded before starting to examine the bonds holding them together. Soft metallic clinks followed certain movements, and Kai again wished desperately that he had not gotten his crush mixed up in this mess. How could he have done this to the boy he wanted to love?
"There's a knot near my elbow," the blond angel's soft voice related, and Kai's ears pricked up to its gentle tones even though he hated the words spoken. "But I don't know… I can barely reach it with one hand."
"We could work the ropes up higher so you can reach it with your teeth," Kai suggested.
"Maybe…."
"Let's try it."
Moving their bonds took a lot of determined effort and more time than Kai had hoped. Whoever had tied them up had tightened the knots so the ropes cut into the boys' arms and caught at their clothes as they tried to wiggle out of them. It almost seemed like all their effort would be in vain, but finally Kai felt the uppermost loop of rope slip over the edge of his shoulder and several loops below that one relax their cruelly solid grip.
Kai sighed in relief, wishing he could wipe the sweat from his face. Behind him he felt his crush relax also, leaning back against him. Kai allowed himself to enjoy several sweet moments of close proximity to the blond boy before he began moving again and his partner had to lean away.
"If you grab that loop with your teeth I might be able to duck out of it, then you can pull it over your head. If we can at least move our arms we will be in better shape, even if our hands are still tied."
"Ok." His fellow prisoner sounded exhausted, but as much as Kai wanted to let him rest, he knew they were racing against time and might be discovered at any moment. The last thing he wanted was to be separated; he hated to imagine what could happen to his angel alone in this hostile situation. The teen was already frightened enough.
Kai managed to maneuver his head out of the loop as it was held up, and then several more, until the rope lay around them in a tangled ring. Kai's arms were still tied securely behind his back, their ankles were bound together, and there was the matter of the chains. He sighed, sitting back on his heels.
"Can you reach our feet?"
"Yeah… come over in front of me."
Kai froze. He hadn't thought of that. This was it. His crush would see him. He would know everything.
Slowly, Kai shuffled around until he was facing the other boy, expecting the worst at any moment.
After a few seconds passed without any outburst of negativity from his fellow prisoner, Kai dared to look up. The blonde had focused his attention at their feet, fumbling over the ropes securing their ankles together. Kai winced at the sight of him, but forced himself to look.
The chain was the worst part; it wrapped several times around the boy's wrists, digging into his flesh. Bruises marred tanned skin, suggesting that the blonde had put up a fight; one dark patch on his chin bled into a swollen split lip. Kai frowned, both at the offending bruise and at his own wild desire to kiss away the hurt of that particular wound. He dropped his chin as his cheeks reddened, hoping the room was too dark for his fellow prisoner to notice.
The other worked in silence for several minutes, feeling the urgency of their situation and the need to get away as soon as possible. It was not until after the ropes binding their ankles together had finally been undone that he glanced up, and then froze.
Kai looked up also, catching a look of recognition crossing the blonde's handsome face.
"You're the boy from the window," his crush started, sounding rather surprised. Kai was surprised also, that the blonde recognized him. He had always tried to keep himself out of sight, though recently it had seemed like the blond sometimes noticed his presence. Had he caught Kai looking into his apartment?
"Window?" he asked vaguely, hoping this had not been the case.
The other frowned. "I was at home… and I heard something explode like a cannon outside. You jumped out of a tree into the path of this thing that was flying toward us and got knocked inside. The window was open, luckily, otherwise you would be all cut up. I bet you can't remember; you hit your head really hard on the floor. Then there was all this smoke and I couldn't breathe… and then we were here." The blonde looked at Kai again, anxiety written across his face. "They were after me, weren't they?"
Kai, who had been listening to the story in dismay, grimaced. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I assumed that they were after me. But maybe someone found out about… and I just happened to be there at the right time." He had been about to say my crush on you, but had caught himself just in time.
His fellow prisoner had noticed the strange pause, however. "Found out about what?" he asked quietly.
Kai's throat felt too dry, and he gulped as he tried to answer. "My… ah… that is… I have a certain emotional attachment to… um… you." He laughed nervously, unable to meet the other boy's gaze.
"Oh," the other boy responded simply. They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, then he offered, "Here, I'll untie your arms."
Kai turned around, moving closer so the other teen could reach his bound wrists. "So, um, what's your name?" the blonde asked hesitantly. Kai wasn't sure if he was trying to make conversation to forget about the awkwardness of his previous revelation, or if he was truly curious.
"Kai," he supplied quietly, acutely aware of the other's hands, the strong body leaning over him. He mentally shook himself, and began looking for something to use to pick the locks on the chains and door.
"I'm Miguel," the other offered.
"Miguel…" Kai murmured. "That's … perfect."
"What?" Miguel asked, and Kai realized too late that he had spoken the thought out loud. "Oh! Um, just looking for something to unlock the chain with," he covered wildly.
"Oh. Are you good at picking locks?" his companion asked conversationally.
"Um, pretty good. My friend Tala is better, but I can manage with most locks. He can break into safes and things like that."
Kai grimaced at the words he found coming out of his mouth. I sound like a nervous little teenage girl! he chided himself. What is wrong with me?
"My fate is in your hands," Miguel declared, and Kai winced at the truth in the statement. "There, you're loose."
"Thanks," Kai replied, rubbing his wrists instinctively to restore the bloodflow to his hands. "You're really good with knots."
"Oh, yeah," Miguel answered, sounding slightly embarrassed. Kai glanced back at him, catching the blue eyes again. This time, the two held each other's gazes for a long, breathtaking moment. Kai reveled at the beauty of those cerulean orbs, wishing he had time to enjoy their loveliness.
They both heard it in the same moment: a scraping metallic sound beyond the door that clearly signified a lock being turned. Both turned to the door, then back to one another, panic rising.
"Hide! Get out of here!" Miguel whispered, gesturing with his head.
"No, I'm not leaving you here alone!" Kai hissed back, glancing at the door as another lock turned.
"Go! Quick!"
But Kai, instead of leaving as Miguel was urging him to do, bent his head toward the other boy. "I can't," he said quickly, and pressed his lips to those of his crush.
Miguel gasped, but Kai pulled away too quickly to read this reaction. He stood and positioned himself between Miguel and the door, body taut and ready for action.
As the door began to open he threw himself into motion, halting just as abruptly when a familiar voice called, "Hey! Knock it off!"
Kai stopped attempting to throttle Tala and stepped back, still on edge and trembling with energy. "Is anyone following you? Can we get out this way?" he asked quickly, quietly.
"Just Bryan," Tala answered in a normal tone of voice, then called behind him, "Hey, Bry, you coming?"
"Sshh!" Kai cautioned, swiping at Tala again, who ducked and stepped further into the room. "So, having fun in here yet?"
Kai, confused by Tala's question, was about to ask what he meant when Bryan appeared in the open door, calling, "You get down to it yet, Kai?"
"What are you talking about? Be quiet!" Kai cautioned again, but Bryan laughed.
"It's just us, you don't have to keep it down. We thought we might hear something anyway, when you finally got all those pent-up feelings out."
"Yeah, how was he?" Tala asked, his perverted smile aimed at Miguel. "Still chained up? Are you two into kinky stuff then?"
"What… are you talking about?" Kai faltered, beginning to realize that something was not as he had thought it to be.
"We set this whole thing up so you could get with him, duh. Did we come back too soon?" questioned the redhead.
"Get with... you what!" Kai yelled.
"Hm, should have used less sleeping gas," Bryan mused.
"You mean you haven't had sex?" Tala asked, looking truly crestfallen.
"No! Why the hell would I even think about that during a hostage situation?" Kai screeched, sounding more girlishly shrill than he would have liked to admit as embarrassment flushed through him. Bryan and Tala exchanged confused glances.
"Well, it happens in movies…. After rescuing the, uh, person in distress, the hero gets to do whatever they want, right?"
"First of all," Kai began, teeth clenched so hard that it was difficult to speak, "This is real life, not a movie. Secondly, if you indeed put us through this as I am forced to conclude you did, we would need a third party to rescue us and claim this title of 'hero' you mentioned. And I would never have sex with someone I just met no matter how freaking gorgeous they are! Now give me the damn key to those fucking chains!"
Kai found himself shrieking again but couldn't help himself. He was so thoroughly embarrassed and fed up and furious that he wished a real enemy had walked through the door threatening to kill Miguel rather than the two nutcases under whose misguided friendship he suffered. He felt waves of irritation shaking his body as Bryan stuffed his hands in first his jacket pockets, then those of his pants.
"Uh… I think… I lost the key," he finally admitted sheepishly.
"Then get out your fucking lock picks!" Kai screamed.
It was Tala who obeyed, pulling a few misshapen bits of metal from his pocket and handing them to Kai.
"Now get out of here and go as far away as you can, because I am going to hunt you down and kill you both," Kai swore.
Having the decency to look mildly concerned, Tala and Bryan fled.
Still seething with anger and embarrassment, Kai took several long breaths before turning back to Miguel, kneeling beside the teen without looking at him. He made short work of the lock and unwound the chains with as little skin contact as possible, then stood. "Come on, I'll take you home. I think I know where we are now."
"Kai," Miguel started, but Kai shook his head and walked away through the door recently opened by his so-called friends. He could not believe that they would do something like this; it was so ridiculous! Who in their right mind would feint a kidnapping in an attempt to get two people together? Not that Tala and Bryan often experienced such a state as a 'right mind'. The fact that they had done all this in an attempt to get him to hook up with his crush, and happily explained their intent in front of said crush, made it all the more embarrassing.
He listened to Miguel climb to his feet, shuffling after Kai on stiff legs. Kai led the way through the warehouse he now vaguely recognized as belonging to an acquaintance, to a car left conveniently near the exit with the keys on the front seat. He kept out of Miguel's reach, though after one attempt to catch up and put a hand on his shoulder, his crush had not again attempted to touch him.
They drove in silence, Kai still hurt and seething, Miguel seemingly inattentive. He merely leaned against one hand propped on the windowsill, staring blankly at his feet, occasionally stealing a glance in Kai's direction. It was not until Kai stopped by his apartment building some time later that Miguel again spoke.
"Will I see you again?" he asked tentatively.
Kai bit out a quick "No" before even taking in what Miguel had said, then stared away out the front window, wishing he had not answered so quickly but unwilling to make himself more ridiculous by changing his mind.
Miguel nodded, a short bob of the head, then gave a weak smile. "Well, I won't forget about meeting you," he joked half-heartedly. When Kai did not respond, he called, "Thanks, for everything," and closed the car door.
Immediately Kai pulled away from the curb but dared a glance in the rearview mirror as he paused at a stop sign. The blond was gazing in the direction of the retreating car, one hand on the handle of the door to his building. He raised a hand in a tentative wave goodbye.
Kai gunned the engine a little harder than he meant to do, throwing himself away from his crush, away from the dream that Tala and Bryan had destroyed with their thoughtless meddling.
He would find them, and they would pay.
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